Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Population of Blind Invalids of the War in Croatia

Osobe koje su tijekom Domovinskog rata sudjelovale u ratnim operacijama i uslijed ratnih djelovanja izgubile vid izložene su pojačanom riziku za nastanak posttraumatskog stresnog poremećaja (u daljnjem tekstu PTSP). Naime, u ovih osoba se navedeni poremećaj može razviti kao reakcija na traumatične događaje proživljene na bojištu¸ ali i kao reakcija na sam gubitak vida. S obzirom na to može se pretpostaviti da će se u nekih pripadnika ove populacije razviti simptomi PTSP-a. Za utvrđivanje pojavnosti posttraumatskog stresnog poremećaja u slijepih invalida Domovinskog rata upotrijebljen je upitnik LASC-01. Ovaj instrument pogodan je za utvrđivanje simptoma PTSP-a, ali i za utvrđivanje niza dodatnih simptoma koji obično prate ovaj poremećaj. Rezultati istraživanja provedenog na 28 slijepih invalida Domovinskog rata su pokazali da se kompletna slika poremećaja razvila u 39,28% ispitanika. U ostalih ispitanika pojavile su se pojačane reakcije samo u pojedinim skupinama simptoma npr. povećanoj pobuđenosti. Utvrđeno je također da je za nastanak poremećaja odgovornija izloženost traumatičnim događajima na bojištu nego sam gubitak vida. U ispitanika koji su tijekom boravka na bojištu bili izloženi jačim ili češćim traumatičnim događajima razvili su se jači simptomi poremećaja. Zabilježeni su također i najčešći dodatni simptomi koji prate posttraumatski stresni poremećaj, a to su: poteškoće spavanja, uznemirenost, osjećaj neprijateljstva, tjeskoba, poteškoće pamćenja i depresija.Persons that have participated in military activities in the war in Croatia and that have, due to injuries inflicted during military actions, lost their vision are at greater risk of having posttraumatic stress dissorder (PTSD).These persons can develop the PTSD as a reaction to traumatic military events that happened at the battle field but also, as a reaction to the sight loss. Therefore assumption is that some of the persons that have been in the military actions and have lost their sight due to injuries inflicted during the war will develop PTSD simptoms. The questionaire LASC-01 has been used for assessing posttraumatic stress dissorder in blind invalids of Croatia war. This instrument is valid for determining simptoms of PTSD but also for determining presence of other additional simptoms which are common for this disorder. The sample in this research is 28 blind invalids of the war in Croatia and the results have shown that the PTSD dissorder was present in 39,28 % of persons in this research. Some persons (that in the sample of this research) have shown more intensive reactions in some (areas) simptoms of dissorder, for example - higher agitation . It has been determined that the witnessing traumatic military actions at the war field is more responsible for PTSD development than vision loss itself. Results have shown that there is significant correlation of frequence and intensity of witnessing traumatic military action and simptoms of the dissorder (if the frequence and intensity was higher - the simptoms were stronger). Some simptoms that are additional to posttraumatic stress disorder have been present: such as: sleeping problems, anxiety, hostile feelings, agitation, memory difficulties and depression